No Going Back!
We have been holidaying in Italy for the past six years and have long cherished the dream of
having our own little plot of heaven there .
We had ruled out Tuscany as it was out of our price range so following a organised touring
holiday in Puglia ,a good way of seeing an area, we decided we would look there for our home
in the sun.
The decision made, Fred spent many hours surfing the web for information on the locality and
property in the area between Bari and Brindisi airports. Following this research we made a
number of visits to the area without finding that property that really hit the spot.
We decided to widen our field of exploration and had booked to travel to the Taranto area to
continue our search.
The weekend before we were due to fly out we decided to visit the Viva Italia exhibition being
held at Olympia in London. This exhibition is devoted to Italy and all things Italian, and it was
there that we met this blue eyed, blonde dynamo called Lee-Ann Holmes.
Lee-Ann was representing Re/Max, an agency based in Maglie right in the heel of Italy, and was
advertising some really interesting property consequently there was quite a crowd round her
stall. We elbowed our way in and spotted a property that appeared to ring bells with both of us
(always a good sign) We caught Lee-Ann’s eye and she was happy to tell us all about it. Lee-
Ann explained that Maglie is about 30Km from Lecce and about an hours drive from Brindisi
airport. We had not been to this part of Puglia before but the property Lee-Ann was representing
looked very inviting so we decided to book an appointment with her for the following Friday.
Between the exhibition and arriving in Italy we talked endlessly about the house we had seen at
the exhibition and how it appeared to meet all our wish list for a home in Italy but as the days
passed we also tried to be realistic (some might say cynical) and decided that the property had
probably been a hook to pull in the punters as lots of people at the show had shown interest in
that particular property. Once in Italy we almost didn't’t go to Maglie as it was over two hours
away from where we were staying and previous experiences with estate agencies who we felt
had tried to pressure us into making rushed decisions following frantic viewing trips was
something neither of us wanted to repeat but when we called Lee-Ann to cancel she sounded
so enthusiastic and said how much she was looking forward to seeing us that we decided
‘nothing ventured nothing gained’ and as all we had to lose was time, we set of in the early
morning light for our 10.00 appointment
We went via the ‘pretty route’ thanks to our GPS (we forgot to turn the sound off!) and eventually
arrived, an hour late, hot thirsty and slightly frazzled. Lee-Ann sat us down and allowed us to
collect ourselves before asking us some probing questions about what we really wanted from a
home in Italy, she then showed us some properties on the computer and low and behold ‘our’
house really was for sale, so much for our cynicism! We chose four houses to look at and after
Lee -Ann had made the necessary phone calls off we went in high spirits full of hope.
We had chosen to see ‘our ‘ house first and following Lee-Ann’s directions we quickly arrived to
be greeted by a fairly grumpy owner who said he was fed up with showing people around and
them not buying. Lee-Ann (a fluent Italian speaker) calmed him down and soon had him
cheerfully demonstrating the water pump and showing off his vegetable garden
The house was every thing we wanted, it had been recently re model and the fine paid! As the
owner had enlarged the house without permission. We both felt this was the house for us but Lee-
Ann cautioned us not to rush in before we had seen some other properties, so off we went to
see what else was on offer.
We viewed another two houses but we both knew the first one was the one for us so we told Lee-
Ann that we had made our decision and asked to go back to ‘our’ house for another view.
This second viewing confirmed our thoughts that at last we had found our home so we travelled
back to the Re/Max office in Maglie to discuss tactics. After a long chat and a couple of coffees
we asked Lee-Ann to put in an offer for us; we told her our top price and then went for a walk
around the town whilst Lee-Ann set to work. 45minutes later we re-entered the Re/Max office with
our hearts in our mouths would the owner accepted our offer or would we have to increase our
bid? Lee-Ann looked very glum, our hearts sank! But then she broke into a wide smile and told
us that the owner had accepted an offer 3,000 euro below our top price !!!! I could have kissed
her and I think Fred may have done, and it was hugs all round.
We now had to wait for the property owner to call at the office to sign the reservation contract and
while we waited Lee-Ann told us about the contracts and documentation involved in purchasing a
property in Italy. As we did not have a bank account or a Codice Fiscale (tax identification
number) it was arranged that we would return on the Monday to complete the necessary
formalities and it was late in the evening when we drove back to our hotel after a tiring but fruitful
day.
We were up with the larks and on the road by 07.30 on the Monday morning, arriving at the
Re/max office at 09.45. Lee-Ann explained that one of her colleagues had already gone to
Lecce to do the preliminary searches on the property and that we needed to go to the tax office
to register so that we had the all important tax identification number without which nothing can
proceed. Lee-Ann also had arranged for us to go to the bank to open an account so that we
could transfer our funds to pay for the property on completion.
We asked about a Notary and Lee-Ann was able to recommend one who spoke English, so we
were all set!
We went straight to the tax office and with Lee-Ann’s help negotiated the famous Italian
bureaucracy in reasonable time, then it was onto the bank, here time seemed to have no
meaning so patience is the order of the day. Again with Lee-Anns help the account was opened
and after shaking hands all round Lee-Ann led us to a café for lunch and a well earned spot of
liquid refreshment .
The last thing we had to do was to decide when we wanted to complete the purchase, unlike in
England sales are normally completed within two to three months. We decided to complete by
the 15th of November giving us 6 weeks from start to finish.
We flew back to Maglie via Brindisi on the 11th November and after a weekend of sight seeing
presented ourselves at the Re/max office late in the afternoon of the 13th November. We
travelled with Lee-Ann and her college Roberto to the Notary’s office where the formalities were
completed and we were given the Keys to our new home.
We found the house buying process in Italy very straight forward but only because we had Lee-
Ann’s professional help. She made the process a simple as possible without ever putting
pressure on us to make decisions we were not happy with. The Italians we met were friendly
helpful and encouraging if somewhat slightly bemused about the English obsession of buying
‘old houses’ when there are new ones available.
Signed Janet & Fred Gardner
having our own little plot of heaven there .
We had ruled out Tuscany as it was out of our price range so following a organised touring
holiday in Puglia ,a good way of seeing an area, we decided we would look there for our home
in the sun.
The decision made, Fred spent many hours surfing the web for information on the locality and
property in the area between Bari and Brindisi airports. Following this research we made a
number of visits to the area without finding that property that really hit the spot.
We decided to widen our field of exploration and had booked to travel to the Taranto area to
continue our search.
The weekend before we were due to fly out we decided to visit the Viva Italia exhibition being
held at Olympia in London. This exhibition is devoted to Italy and all things Italian, and it was
there that we met this blue eyed, blonde dynamo called Lee-Ann Holmes.
Lee-Ann was representing Re/Max, an agency based in Maglie right in the heel of Italy, and was
advertising some really interesting property consequently there was quite a crowd round her
stall. We elbowed our way in and spotted a property that appeared to ring bells with both of us
(always a good sign) We caught Lee-Ann’s eye and she was happy to tell us all about it. Lee-
Ann explained that Maglie is about 30Km from Lecce and about an hours drive from Brindisi
airport. We had not been to this part of Puglia before but the property Lee-Ann was representing
looked very inviting so we decided to book an appointment with her for the following Friday.
Between the exhibition and arriving in Italy we talked endlessly about the house we had seen at
the exhibition and how it appeared to meet all our wish list for a home in Italy but as the days
passed we also tried to be realistic (some might say cynical) and decided that the property had
probably been a hook to pull in the punters as lots of people at the show had shown interest in
that particular property. Once in Italy we almost didn't’t go to Maglie as it was over two hours
away from where we were staying and previous experiences with estate agencies who we felt
had tried to pressure us into making rushed decisions following frantic viewing trips was
something neither of us wanted to repeat but when we called Lee-Ann to cancel she sounded
so enthusiastic and said how much she was looking forward to seeing us that we decided
‘nothing ventured nothing gained’ and as all we had to lose was time, we set of in the early
morning light for our 10.00 appointment
We went via the ‘pretty route’ thanks to our GPS (we forgot to turn the sound off!) and eventually
arrived, an hour late, hot thirsty and slightly frazzled. Lee-Ann sat us down and allowed us to
collect ourselves before asking us some probing questions about what we really wanted from a
home in Italy, she then showed us some properties on the computer and low and behold ‘our’
house really was for sale, so much for our cynicism! We chose four houses to look at and after
Lee -Ann had made the necessary phone calls off we went in high spirits full of hope.
We had chosen to see ‘our ‘ house first and following Lee-Ann’s directions we quickly arrived to
be greeted by a fairly grumpy owner who said he was fed up with showing people around and
them not buying. Lee-Ann (a fluent Italian speaker) calmed him down and soon had him
cheerfully demonstrating the water pump and showing off his vegetable garden
The house was every thing we wanted, it had been recently re model and the fine paid! As the
owner had enlarged the house without permission. We both felt this was the house for us but Lee-
Ann cautioned us not to rush in before we had seen some other properties, so off we went to
see what else was on offer.
We viewed another two houses but we both knew the first one was the one for us so we told Lee-
Ann that we had made our decision and asked to go back to ‘our’ house for another view.
This second viewing confirmed our thoughts that at last we had found our home so we travelled
back to the Re/Max office in Maglie to discuss tactics. After a long chat and a couple of coffees
we asked Lee-Ann to put in an offer for us; we told her our top price and then went for a walk
around the town whilst Lee-Ann set to work. 45minutes later we re-entered the Re/Max office with
our hearts in our mouths would the owner accepted our offer or would we have to increase our
bid? Lee-Ann looked very glum, our hearts sank! But then she broke into a wide smile and told
us that the owner had accepted an offer 3,000 euro below our top price !!!! I could have kissed
her and I think Fred may have done, and it was hugs all round.
We now had to wait for the property owner to call at the office to sign the reservation contract and
while we waited Lee-Ann told us about the contracts and documentation involved in purchasing a
property in Italy. As we did not have a bank account or a Codice Fiscale (tax identification
number) it was arranged that we would return on the Monday to complete the necessary
formalities and it was late in the evening when we drove back to our hotel after a tiring but fruitful
day.
We were up with the larks and on the road by 07.30 on the Monday morning, arriving at the
Re/max office at 09.45. Lee-Ann explained that one of her colleagues had already gone to
Lecce to do the preliminary searches on the property and that we needed to go to the tax office
to register so that we had the all important tax identification number without which nothing can
proceed. Lee-Ann also had arranged for us to go to the bank to open an account so that we
could transfer our funds to pay for the property on completion.
We asked about a Notary and Lee-Ann was able to recommend one who spoke English, so we
were all set!
We went straight to the tax office and with Lee-Ann’s help negotiated the famous Italian
bureaucracy in reasonable time, then it was onto the bank, here time seemed to have no
meaning so patience is the order of the day. Again with Lee-Anns help the account was opened
and after shaking hands all round Lee-Ann led us to a café for lunch and a well earned spot of
liquid refreshment .
The last thing we had to do was to decide when we wanted to complete the purchase, unlike in
England sales are normally completed within two to three months. We decided to complete by
the 15th of November giving us 6 weeks from start to finish.
We flew back to Maglie via Brindisi on the 11th November and after a weekend of sight seeing
presented ourselves at the Re/max office late in the afternoon of the 13th November. We
travelled with Lee-Ann and her college Roberto to the Notary’s office where the formalities were
completed and we were given the Keys to our new home.
We found the house buying process in Italy very straight forward but only because we had Lee-
Ann’s professional help. She made the process a simple as possible without ever putting
pressure on us to make decisions we were not happy with. The Italians we met were friendly
helpful and encouraging if somewhat slightly bemused about the English obsession of buying
‘old houses’ when there are new ones available.
Signed Janet & Fred Gardner
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
